It's a whole new world on Capitol Hill. Congressional members and staffers slowly are getting used to the idea of Democrats being in the majority, and Republicans already miss the glamour and attention that came with power. Majority Leader John A. Boehner strolled through the clubby Speakers Lobby on Congress' first day back after the midterm elections, eyeing a gaggle of reporters swarmed outside the Democrats' side of the chamber. Usually, they'd be on his party's side, clamoring for a comment. When asked how he was doing, the Ohio Republican replied dryly: "Lovely." The phones in the press office of outgoing Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois were eerily -- and unusually -- silent last week, but aides for Democratic Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi of California had their BlackBerries pressed to their ears nearly 24/7. And Mrs. Pelosi's Democrats are basking in the spotlight after winning more than two dozen seats in the midterm elections. ... http://www.washingtontimes.com

BBC reporter Dilawar Khan Wazir has been released by his captors, a day after being kidnapped in Pakistan. Mr Khan turned up shaken but unharmed in the BBC office in the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday evening. He was held blindfold and questioned about his sources of information. He did not know who his kidnappers were. His disappearance prompted the BBC to write to the Pakistan government, which said it could not confirm whether he was in their custody. Mr Khan is one of the few local journalists reporting on the Pakistani army's fight with pro-Taleban militants in the troubled Waziristan region on the Afghan border. A number of journalists have gone missing, and some have been killed, after covering stories considered sensitive by the military or the militants. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6169768.stm

Seventy criminals including three murderers have absconded from an open prison this year, the Home Office said. Of the 70 who fled Ford Open Prison in West Sussex, 29 are still at large. Among those are a murderer serving a life sentence and drug dealers. They were assessed as "low risk" to the public, according to the Home Office. Home Secretary John Reid said serious offenders were being rehabilitated before being returned to the community. "It's to protect the public," he said. The figures were given in a parliamentary answer to the shadow home affairs minister, Nick Herbert, who described the situation as a "total disgrace". Mr Herbert, whose constituency includes Ford Prison, said: "Not only have 70 prisoners absconded from Ford this year already, but over a third of them have not been recaptured and many should never have been in an open prison, having committed the most serious offences, including murder." ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6167802.stm

The defeated left-wing candidate in Mexico's presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has held an unofficial swearing-in ceremony. During his "inauguration" in Mexico City, Mr Lopez Obrador said he was launching a "parallel government". He claims he was the victim of fraud in July's election - a view shared by millions of Mexicans. But some of his supporters think his alternative inauguration is ill-advised and politically irresponsible. In the presidential election, Mr Lopez Obrador was defeated by less than a percentage point by Felipe Calderon of the governing National Action Party (PAN). 'Short leash' Mr Lopez Obrador was "sworn in" by Senator Rosario Ibarra, a human rights activist and member of his party, who placed a red, green and white presidential sash across his shoulders. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6166908.stm

Georgia is threatening to block Russia's membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a dispute over links between the two nations. It is unhappy at the trade blockade being imposed on it by Russia and at threats by Russian energy giant Gazprom to double gas prices in Georgia. Georgia's foreign and economic development ministries said Russia joining the WTO was in their interests. But they said Russia must follow rules of international trade. If agreement is not reached "the process of Russia's accession to the WTO will be suspended", the departments said. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6168976.stm

The Israeli government has lost its direction, faith in the military is fast-waning & the country is plagued by self-doubt. Just months after the war in Lebanon, the country is being forced to adopt the new realism of the Bush administration. There was plenty going on in the Middle East last week. Terrorists in Iraq kidnapped & murdered dozens of people. In Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated his call for the destruction of Israel. Qassam rockets were launched, once again, from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, killing one Israeli woman. In the Palestinian Autonomous Territory, the Israeli air force bombed the homes of radical Palestinians. But judging by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's comments to Bush at a meeting in the Oval Office last Monday, the region couldn't have been calmer. "We are very much impressed and encouraged," Olmert told Bush, "by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East."...http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,449773,00.html